Robber Has Asthma Attack, Locks Keys in Car

— -- Robbery of Retired Sheriff Goes Very Wrong

P O R T S T. L U C I E, Fla. — Travis Suomi picked the wrong 78-year-old to mess with, police say. Suomi knocked on the door of former Port St. Lucie Sheriff C.L. Norvell early last Wednesday morning, at around 1:30 a.m. He said his car had broken down and asked to use the phone. Norvell, who left law enforcement 18 years ago, gave him his cordless phone to use, but refused to let him in the house.

Suomi used the phone and returned it, and then asked again to come inside, this time to use the bathroom. When Norvell refused to let him in, the man said he was robbing the sheriff and tried to throw a coat over his head, police said.

But he quickly found he was in over his head.

"The sheriff pulled a .38 out of his bath robe and said, 'It's best you get out of here,'" said Det. Tom Hickox. "The guy took off running of course."

After the man ran off, Norvell called 911 — a system he had helped establish in the county years ago — and waited for police to arrive.

Suomi's troubles didn't end there, Hickox says.

The 18-year-old had in fact used Norvell's phone, which happened to have Caller ID.

"The guy was stupid enough to call his own house," said Hickox. "He talked to his mother, whom he lives with."

Suomi was arrested later that night, and charged with home invasion, a first-degree felony.

As for Norvell, Hickox says that 18 years off the force apparently hadn't slowed him down.

"He was very calm through the whole incident," Hickox said. "He knows somebody shouldn't come to your door at one o'clock in the morning."

Suspect Breaks Gun, Gets Asthma, Locks Keys in Getaway CarM E S A, Ariz. — Even Michael Anthone Jacobs admits he's no master thief. "I'm not cut out to be a criminal," Jacobs said to reporters last week after his arrest on robbery charges. "For everybody that knows me, I'm just a nice, cool guy."

Jacobs allegedly managed to grab some cash in the first of three robbery tries, but police say it all went downhill from there.